Hi! My name is Phil Hartman and I’d like to welcome you to the first episode of my “Idioms of Business & Technology” podcast.

I would first like to thank you subscribing and making this investment to improve your English skills. I am committed to helping you understand the unusual idioms and figures of speech that native speakers may use during a business meeting, at a PowerPoint presentation, while brainstorming in a conference room, or speaking in the hallway at a technical conference. I’m interested in the way we use English which just can’t be taken literally and looked up in a simple dictionary.

You may still be wondering, however, “Why Should I Listen to Phil?” Let me try to reassure you.

• I am a native English language speaker from the US

• I am a successful consultant who helps major corporate clients with business and technology issues

– As a consultant, I have to communicate well to get clients to accept my recommendations and fund my projects

– I have worked for US-based clients in the US, Canada, India, and China.

• I have over 26 years of professional experience in government, business, and technology.

• I trust my experience makes up for the fact I have no formally recognized training in teaching English as a second language. I tell you what I use and hear used in everyday use by working professionals.

• I also have strong academic credentials backing up my business and technology expertise

– I have a Master of Science from the Johns Hopkins University and a

– Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Memphis State University

At this point i would also like to recommend that you consider reading the text transcript of the audio which is posted on the accompanying blog. This way you can also grasp the spelling of the words and the use of punctuation.

As my first idiom, I will discuss the phrase “There is more than one way to skin a cat.”

I am in some software training in Atlanta this week and the instructor used this phrase in class this morning. He said there were three different transactions which could be used to accomplish the same purpose. He then used the idiom “There is more than one way to skin the cat.” In other words, there is more than one way provided in the software to do the same thing

Taken literally, the phrase “more than one way to skin a cat” instantly creates a mental picture of someone being very cruel to a harmless cat. I used Google to search the Internet and I found one web page which suggested this idiom was really a reference to skinning catfish before cooking them. For anyone who doesn’t know, catfish have long whiskers similar to a cat’s whiskers.

Thanks again for your support of “Idioms of Business & Technology” podcast. There are more unusual English phrases to come!

This podcast is Copyright 2007 by Philip Hartman